How To Stop Your Cat From Spraying Inside
June 3, 2022
It goes without saying that if you are a pet owner, you can expect accidents to happen in your home. The chief accident that most pet owners find annoying is peeing inside. All pets do it at some point, but when it becomes a problem or a regular thing, it means there’s a behaviour issue behind it.
Why do cat’s spray inside the home?
Effectively, when your cat sprays or picks a favourite spot to urinate in your home, they are marking their territory. It is a common behaviour in households of more than one cat.
Even if your cat is an indoor cat, they can sense other cats outside and will feel the need to make their own presence known.
Territorial behaviour
Marking the spot with their scent is the same as sending a text message to all other felines in the neighbourhood: This is my domain, so stay out! Cats view their gardens and the surrounding neighbourhood as there’s to discover. In the wild, this would be their hunting ground. In order to survive, they must defend it.
However, in urban settings, the cats in any neighbourhood will likely share their outdoor space with other cats. So they need some sort of understanding and a form of communication. As cohabitors, cats need an unwritten pact that lays out the terms of this shared space, and it’s all in the scent of their urine.
Form of feline communication
According to the SPCA, urine marking is just one way cats communicate with each other to keep the peace:
“By urine marking, a cat tells other cats of his presence and makes a statement about such things as what piece of property is his, how long ago he was in the area and, over time, when other cats can expect him to return. Cats can even advertise when they are looking for a mate. All this information is available to other cats in the urine. This way, cats rarely have to meet up with each other.”
Urine marking is not a litter box problem, it’s a communication problem that occurs in about 30% of all cats.
How to prevent urine marking indoors
A well-fed, content cat who lives a fairly stress-free life will likely not feel the need to scent mark in your home. Spaying and neutering them can further reduce the likelihood of this happening.
Further measures include keeping windows, blinds and curtains closed, as well as doors, to reduce the scents and sights of other neighbourhood cats.
You can also discourage other neighbourhood cats from entering your garden by attaching a motion-detecting sensor to your lawn sprinkler. Sounds a little crafty, but it’s a tactic recommended by the ASPCA. They suggest setting the sprinkler close to windows where your cat can spy unwanted feline guests.
On top of these tips, make sure you use an enzymatic cleanser to remove the smell of urine where your cat has sprayed. When you take away all the factors that explain their urine-marking behaviour - food, conflict, need for a mate and stress - your cat will feel more secure in their surroundings.